August 26th: 3 Musketeers - (Original Post February 26th 2008)

Kcal 260 Fat 8.0g Fat(sats) 5.0g Carbs 46.0g

A few weeks ago the kind people from Mars US sent me an e-mail asking if I would like to sample their new formulated 3 Musketeers bar. Sitting in a comfortable joint third position on the ChocolateMission leaderboard there wasn't a chance I was ever going to let this opportunity slip me by so I of course accepted without hesitation.

The marketing blurb that accompanied my samples informed me that the new recipe 'adds more satisfying chocolate taste to the delicious nougat and with 45% less fat than average of the leading chocolate brands'. Looking at the nutritional information and ingrdients list there were surprisingly no changes from the original recipe that had been in market previously. As you will see from my cross-section picture above the first actual noticeable different was the darker coloured nougat.

So did I notice any difference to the taste? Well the outer chocolate was no different whatsoever, it was still milky sweet standard Mars chocolate. The nougat inside was a little differentiated from previous experiences, though not so much so that it made me feel any differently about the 3 Musketeers for better, or worse. As nougat goes it was still exceedingly tasty and it's chocolatey taste was still just as creamy as I'd ever experienced. On the balance of things it was possibly a touch less sweet and smoother in delivery of it's chocolatey flavours, however like I said above it wasn't all that noticeable.

Overall my review from three years ago remains still my relevant in my eyes, and I still hold the 3 Musketeers bar as one of my all time favourite mass produced chocolate bars. As I have referred to above, the change in recipe is obviously quite a minor thing and wasn't significant enough to shift my opinion on the product. There might have been a day when a brand making a fuss like this on such minor changes would irritate me, but when the bar tasted as good as it did orignally anyway I'm happy to stick by the way of thinking of why fix something that doesn't need changing.

This is a hugely popular bar in the States, and it came with quite a big reputation ... suffice to say I had been really looking forward to reviewing it. The standard 3 Musketeers bar weighs in 60.4g and I must say it really does satisfy a rumbling stomach. The wrapper looks superb with it's bright silver foil, and it claims it contains 45% less fat than other comparative 60g bars. This may be true, but what one can't ignore is the very high level of carbs (46g of which 40g sugars), it sure packs one big sugar hit! In composition the bar is very similar to the Milky Way bar we have in the UK and comes described as 'chocolate flavoured nougat covered in milk chocolate'.

Now, I have complained about nougat bars being stodgy and flavourless before (see Reese's Fast Break), however this was thankfully not the case here. The nougat felt delightful in the mouth and was very fluffy and light, and melted on the tongue with a real softness delivering a fine malty chocolate taste as did so. The chocolate coating wasn't anything overly spectacular, but it more than did it's job of delivering a sweet milky chocolate flavour hit. Considering that it was never going to be the best quality chocolate around, it was really quite nice in comparison to other mass manufactured US bars. Most importantly it complimented the inner nougat amazingly, making for a sublime creamy milk chocolate and malt flavour combination. I savoured the entire 64.0g from start to finish.

Overall this was definitely the best bar I have ever had from the US. I honestly don’t think I could choose it over the Cadburys/Galaxy Caramel bars, which still lead the way on the ChocolateMission, but it is certainly in the same league. In terms of recommendations, I would suggest that if you are a fan of the UK MilkyWay this would be a bar you would really enjoy. I am really looking forward to reviewing the 3 Musketeers mint, which should be on its way to me in the very near future. In the mean time do yourself a favour and buy one of these original 3 Musketeers - you wont regret it.